From here:
The article links to a few sites where dyslexics can test if the font makes reading easier for them. If it does, the font is for sale online.
What do you think, dyslectic Dopers? Is this useful?
I’m not dyslexic (or if I am it’s such a mild dyslexia or I coped so well I never even needed to get diagnosed), but I found that font much more pleasant and easy to read than most fonts. I would not mind seeing it used as the standard in non-artistic settings (meaning academic articles, school essays, message board fonts, etc).
It’s a really interesting idea that I never thought of. Am I imagining it, or are the letters slightly thicker at the bottom, especially the ones with stems like p’s and q’s. It almost as if the idea is that they are made with “ballast” for more stability, so they won’t flip over.
Yes, that is exactly it!
Yet another promising career path that I didn’t follow. I think that’s all of them now.
coolness
I welcome new directions in type design, particularly if they improve readability. That said, it looks pretty ugly to me, but that’s not a big deal if it’s just used for texts, and not headings. Probably other designers will take the design innovations, and retain them in a more attractive typeface.
If there were links to studies showing just how much such fonts help dyslexics I didn’t see them. (But I did follow the Scientific American link, and boy is that floating Twitter palette obnoxious!)
I’m another who loves type fonts, and I think this is both a decent looking and very well-thought out new font. I’m not dyslexic, but I can certainly see where his reasoning and experience led him to make this, and I hope it proves helpful. I’m going to add Mr. Boer to one of my lists, in case I ever meet him at a party or concert or something (the “attaboy” list, not the other ones).
MIght even be good to use this for kids learning to read…
I need to ask my daughter’s therapist about this font.
Very interesting. I’ve made a few fonts before, for my own needs. I’d love to take a crack at it since, as Baal Houtham says, it’s not very attractive. I think someone can take the principals and apply them in a much more aesthetic way, while maintaining the necessary alterations.
But I think I get the idea just from watching the vid.
The differences appear quite subtle to me, and I’m a little skeptical.
If these changes are sufficient then I would be surprised if there were not already lots of fonts out there that are easier yet for dyslexics to read and type, that weren’t specifically made for them (e.g. there are plenty of fonts where no character can be mirrored, flipped or rotated to make another character).
But I don’t know much about the condition, and the font seems to have some study support, so I’m braced to have my ignorance slapped.
Ran it by my 7 year old. He approves. It costs money, though, so I’m not downloading it.
I find that some Hebrew fonts are easier to read than others (and they need to be large). The differences in letters are subtle already, but if you consider what dyslexia is, it makes sense to ‘weight’ the letters at the bottom. I imagine that it is easier for younger readers as well. Remember elementary-style fonts when you were in grade school? Remember not being able to read cursive at one time in your life? I think because you probably read very well it isn’t as obvious to you.
As others have said, it’s an interesting approach. Most font designers try to tie their font together by incorporating common features in different letters. Boer went the opposite way and intentionally set out to give letters distinct features that they don’t share with similar letters.
Personally I have no dyslexia issues with reading so I can’t say how effective it is in addressing that problem.
I showed the article that was set in Dyslexie to my dyslexic husband without mentioning that it was a special typeface, and he asked me what I did to the computer to make the screen easier to read.
So yes, it works. It doesn’t help or hinder me any, but It does look like someone left Helvetica out in the rain and it melted a bit.
Dyslexic here and boy does that font help. For me the letters don’t flip, but they do jump and move around from one line or word to another. I’m reading the samples on the site and the words just sit there, completely stationary. Supercool.
I like it. Hope it works this well for everyone with reading issues.
Hints of (gasp) Comic Sans too.
Comic Sans is the best font for dyslexics that comes standard with modern computers, so that’s not surprising at all.
In fact, this site about why not to use Comic Sans includes links to other dyslexic fonts, some of which are free. Oddly enough, I stumbled upon this site just the other day, I believe from following links from a Wikipedia article, where Comic Sans was featured.
Interesting. Here is the page you mention.
I agree that it’s not the most aesthetically pleasing font (though mostly because the varying weights make it look more informal or casual), but since its purpose is entirely utilitarian, that doesn’t bother me at all. I also wouldn’t be surprised if the designer goes on to refine this font or create other, more elegant fonts that are built on the principles he used here.
I’m not dyslexic, but I did find it easier to read the article PDF (set in Dyslexie), which I found interesting. The biggest improvement, to me? It was a LOT easier to actually get and retain information when quickly skimming the text. I could see the font also useful for increasing reading speed (without sacrificing comprehension).